The International Cessna^® 170 Association

Folks,

I am intending on making a solourn to Alaska this sumnmer with my 170 and will need to carry a bunch of "stuff" (camping gear, survival gear, etc.) and presumed I would remove the back seat.

Then comes the need for some sort of a "cargo net" to keep this "stuff" from joining me up front.

I am sure I am not the first person to have been faced with this problem.

How have others faced this challenge?

I am seriously thinking of taking my sewing machine (yes, I sew) out to the hanger and armed with some nylon webbing, buckles and grommets sew up something.

Al Culbert, N5455C

We typically fly the 170A with the rear seat removed in the Idaho back country. You can use the seat attach points for the cargo net or rope to attach to. When we took the 170 to Alaska we just used rope to tie the gear in place. What seems to work best for gear are the dry bags you use for rafting, they easly form into place and can be tied down. A saddle blanket is about the right size to toss in the area to help keep things in order and can be used for other purposes.

I recently removed my back seat and am using a BEDNET cargo net.

http://www.cargogear.com/OneItemInfo.as ... um=BNCCNET

Tied down with bungee cords to the seat attach points / cargo rings so it's adjustable in size. Has worked well so far.

I found a good cargo net that is normally used for pallets for only $30. I bought it at Arctic wire & rope in Anchorage,AK which doesn't help you much since it's your end destination. It is exactly to right width/length to cover the whole back when the rear seat is removed.

I suggest to look in you neighbourhood for a supplier of rope, cables and lifting equipment.

CraigH-
Thanks for the tip on the BedNet Cargo net. It is the best by far cargo net, I have seen for the back end of a Cessna. The stiching is excellent, and with the extra gromment holes it allows for the any size loads to be secured easly. And the price is the least of any net on the market. ($24.95)

No one plans on off airport arrivals, but you can plan on your cargo load staying in the back all the time if it is secured with a net.

Great tip. http://www.cargogear.com/OneItemInfo.as ... um=BNCCNET

Thanks Craig.

Maybe you need something like this, combined with BedNet cargo net. Might be better that hooking to the seat.

They want $120 for two of those fancy jobs at http://www.jacobsonmachine.com . If red is not your color you can get these purple ones which attach to Cessna seat tracks for "only" $85 a piece from http://www.cargosystems.com .



Cargo rings which attach to the seat track are shown as optional equipment in our Cessna parts catalog in fig. 103-1. Cargo tie-down lug, P/N 0511166, has been superceded to 0711121-2. They don't appear to be available online. Cessna rings that bolt into the structure are available at http://www.cessnaparts.com for $65! See p/n 0511165 on fig. 103-2. I'm guessing you could find a similar one in the aviation section of Home Depot.

Another way to go would be to buy a couple of these for $3.45, make an Adel style attach fitting out of stainless, and hard mount it. That is we did when I worked for MAF. (As an aside, the plane I'm rebuilding has been in two accidents, one recorded by the NTSB and the other unrecorded. Both were caused by the pilot's seat sliding back and the pilot losing rudder control. In the C-170 I got my first taildragger time in at MAF they attached a short rope to the base of the front seat leg. At the free end of the rope they attached a clip. Once the pilot sat down and slid the seat forward he would clip the rope to a D-ring mounted to the floor. In addition to new McFarlane seat tracks, I'll definitely be mounting something similar to my plane.)


Or you could mount these $5.95 Brownline style anchor plates and use these $6.95 D-rings to secure your net.




All this stuff along with nets are available from http://www.cargosystems.com

I removed my rear bench seat today and was brainstorming easy ideas for attaching bungees or cargo nets to the deck when I remembered I had some of these at home:





They are carabiner attachment points from ice screws, and can be purchased at any climbing/outdoor store. You need a flat washer for the standard seat attachment bolts.

It has been my experience that there are at least four plate nuts, other than rear seat connections, located in the aircraft floor under the rear seat and in the baggage compartment. Sometimes more. They may have been part of the original "medical transport" system.
When operating with the rear seat removed, which has been almost always,

I have used these plate nuts and those used to anchor the rear seat, including the side wall attach points, to mount tie down rings attached with small, home made, stainless "Adel" clamps.

Gary
I also heard about the rope and clip attachments from the mechanic who has been working on my 170 for years. An ex MAF pilot and mechanic. He helped find what was left of Nate Saints aircraft. Bill Clapp
I also met Steve Saint. He stopped by in WI. to pick up a PA14. We told him how to find Florida, just follow the Mississippi to the gulf and turn left.
Do you know him??
Bob

Bob,
I worked at the MAF hangar in Redlands, CA in the early '80s. Never had the chance to meet Steve Saint though. I enjoyed the movie End of the Spear last year which had him in it. I see the movie is available on DVD now.

Any cargo restraint is better than nothing but I would not use bungee cords for securing the load. Use caribiners, ratchet straps, or something that will hold without stretching.